A Different Smile

(Last BEFORE picture of Audrey)

A week ago Sunday we were invited to dinner by some friends from church. The kids were outside playing when Audrey started crying. Corey brought her in with a bloody mouth and told me that her tooth was cracked. Just writing about it gets my stomach hurting. I called the urgent care, hospital, and three dentists in the area. Finally a dentist in town called back and said he could see her in the morning. We gave Audrey some children's Tylenol and braced ourselves for a long night. Audrey was a trooper and didn't act like she was in much pain. The next morning the dentist referred us to a pediatric dental office in Wenatchee.

(Just for the record, it was Corey who wanted to take this picture to explain to Audrey someday why she is missing a front tooth.)

Corey was the brave one and held Audrey while the pediatric dentist extracted the tooth. It came out in about five or 6 pieces, it had shattered so badly. Audrey was a very, very brave girl. This was my first experience seeing one of our children seriously hurt. After we realized that her tooth wasn't giving her too much pain, the heartache kicked in. What parent doesn't treasure their child's smile? It was hard seeing that poor, broken tooth.

I told myself that Audrey was okay- and that was what really mattered. So now, Audrey has a different smile. And a new nickname: our gap-toothed girl.

Thank goodness for baby teeth!